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'The Trial of the Chicago Seven'

(
Simon Halfon
/
March 27, 2014
)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Pitch: The riot in Chicago's Grant Park during the 1968 Democratic Convention, and trial of activists Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale (whose trial was severed from the seven other defendants), Tom Hayden and Co. Written by Aaron Sorkin, with a dream cast: Sacha Baron Cohen as Hoffman, Will Smith as Seale, Heath Ledger as Hayden, Philip Seymour Hoffman as defense attorney William Kunstler.

What happened: According to Braund, Spielberg wanted rewrites, a process slowed by the Writers Guild of America strike in 2007. The filmmaker moved on to "War Horse" and "Lincoln." The dream team scattered.

The future: Director Paul Greengrass ("Captain Phillips") was said to be working on the project, but Variety reported in September he'd left the film.